WASHINGTON—COVID-19 came down on most of the world like a freight train, and as a result, how we deal with our lives—professionally and personally—have had to change nearly as quickly. That rapid process of change is not about to skip the TV industry, and in this instance, how business management systems continue to evolve.

Whether their primary objective is helping broadcasters handle advertising and traffic needs via the management of metadata, providers have focused their attention to a number of key processes that have been brought about by current events.

GOING REMOTE

Since mid-March, the majority of work forces have been keeping up with their day-to-day tasks from home. Many were unaware of just how the process would change for them.

“There weren’t a lot of people, a lot of our customers, that were talking about how to sustain a 95% ‘work-from-home’ posture,” said Steve Reynolds, president of Imagine Communications. In response, Imagine has been making much of its business management platform suitable for distributed use, whether via the cloud or possibly as a managed service. But it was still a change that people had to get used to.

Myers also had a number of customers questioning how best to handle operations remotely. They, like Imagine, had previously developed the capability and have been further developing it with its ProHost 2.0. While being able to fully integrate with all systems inside a given media facility, an edge device makes ProHost 2.0 available accessible anywhere, according to Mike Tirrell, CTO for the Westfield, Mass.-based provider of radio and TV management software.

What many users have been surprised to learn during this time is how little their work has actually been impacted because of the work-from-home orders, and in some cases, how more efficient they are. As a result, a return to the office and the type of previous operations pre-COVID doesn’t feel as urgent.

“I think there are a lot of companies now that are looking at what they can do with managed services and what they can do in the public cloud as being not just a business continuity plan but indeed being the primary plan for how they want to run their business moving forward,” said Reynolds.

COMPETING AGAINST DIGITAL

When it comes to advertising, TV has long been one of the predominant platforms for companies to spend on. But digital has emerged in recent years, and with the ad market severely impacted by COVID-19, the gap between TV and some of the big digital players like Google and Facebook is becoming clearer. Still, media companies should be taking this time to find ways to reassert its powerful position in the ad world.

“The premium television companies possess [digital’s] value, but their execution systems, the way they run their businesses, has grown to be very siloed—one platform stack on top of the next,” said Lorne Brown, CEO of Operative, a provider of automated advertising software. “The TV market ... needs to modernize their tech stacks in order to compete in this new marketplace and unlock their value.”

The dominant theme these days is programmatic advertising, which Myers’ CEO Crist Myers defines as, “making sure that the right programming is meeting your audience.” Although it is becoming more widespread in recent years, the development of the ATSC 3.0 standard will give broadcasters new tools to better target specific segments of the population, Myers’ Tirrell explains.

While digital has gotten out in front with programmatic, WideOrbit has developed “MarketPlace” and “Programmatic Digital” to help remove barriers to TV’s full use of the technology, like transactions, according to Mike Zinsmeister, CRO for the San Francisco-based provider of business management systems for M&E.

Brown, however, doesn’t see programmatic having the biggest potential for business management systems. Instead he is more focused on creating multifaceted systems that combine a number of different needs of users.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

In our review of business management systems for M&E a year ago, we discussed how combining the different facets of business management into single platforms was underway. That approach has only increased in the current environment.

“It all comes back to this concept of having a unified infrastructure,” said Brown from Operative, whose flagship cloud-based AOS is designed to help media companies integrate the various aspects and platforms of their business and allow them to sell it in ways buyers want to consume it.

Nearly all of the companies we spoke with have these types of products, whether they are for full system operation, or focus on the many different aspects of a single function like advertising. WideOrbit has its Unified Sales Suite to connect buyers and sellers through a single, easy platform. The latest version of Myers’ ProTrack, 7.0, features a variety of services for managing, publishing and more. Imagine’s XG Gameplan gives users insights into supply and demand aspects, as well as audience and other facets.

“I think that what we’re seeing with COVID-19 is a decade of trends in 18 months,” said Brown. Providers and users just have to try and keep up.

WESTFIELD, Mass.—Myers, a provider of broadcast management systems, has announced it has entered into a partnership with Deutsche Welle, a German-based public broadcaster.

As a result of the partnership, Myers will be able to share schedule information and metadata for DW’s English channel for ProTrack clients throughout the U.S., including U.S.-based PBS stations, by automatically downloading the content into a station’s ProTrack scheduling environment.

The DW schedules and programming titles will be entered into a cloud-based version of ProTrack by the Myers Programming Team. Once entered the content is uploaded to Myers’ ProLink metadata distribution service, where it can then be directly downloaded to a ProTrack scheduling environment.

“By partnering with us, schedule information and metadata for DW’s English channel will be made readily available to all of our ProTrack customers who have limited resources yet a large and diverse audience to serve,” said Crist Myers, president and CEO of Myers.

For more information, visit www.myersinfosys.com.  

WESTFIELD, Mass.—Broadcast management solutions provider Myers has announced the hiring of Michelle Nesmith to the company’s new position of manager, traffic and scheduling. 

The position will have Nesmith expanding Myers’ professional services capabilities, which include offering traffic and scheduling services. Myers says that stations that use its professional services will be able to focus more on the localization and monetization of their program offerings.

“Traffic and scheduling is something I have done for many years now and I am excited to be able to work with Myers’ customers to offer such, which will enable them to better utilize their ProTrack solution to benefit their station as a whole and apply a stronger prioritization of their time and efforts,” said Nesmith.

Nesmith joins Myers having most recently served as the on-boarding traffic manager for WGBH. She also was previously the traffic coordinator for Rocky Mountain Public Television.

For more information, visit www.myersinfosys.com.  

WESTFIELD, Mass.—Colorado Public Television (KBDI), the PBS member TV station that serves Denver, has chosen Myers’ ProTrack broadcast management platform as part of a station-wide technology update.

ProTrack will serve as the primary system within KBDI’s broadcast operations, helping to manage content from acquisition to playout to long-term storage with the ability to handle things like scheduling, monetization and trafficking all media distribution activities.

According to Myers, KBDI has had previous experience with the ProTrack system. This latest version, though, features a new web-based sales environment for the automation of sales workflows to help monetize broadcast assets. KBDI is also expected to integrate ProTrack into its automation system.

Sally Wicks, director of content management for KBDI, says that the ProTrack system will help the station be more efficient in its sales efforts, as well as more agile in its entire operational workflow.

More information is available at www.myersinfosys.com.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.—Broadcast management system provider Myers will be hosting a ProTrack User Workshop in association with the 2019 PBS TechCon. Part of the conference’s Beyond TechCon series, Myers’ workshop will provide hands-on experience with its ProTrack system, along with input from the Traffic Advisory Committee.

In addition to the workshop, Myers is a silver sponsor and exhibitor at PBS TechCon. Its booth will have many members of its staff to answer questions and give demonstrations of the ProTrack system’s latest features and functionality, as well as give a preview on what’s ahead in 2019, like web-based browser accessibility and cloud technology advancements.

The ProTrack User Workshop will be held on April 3 from 10 a.m. to noon. There is no cost to attend the workshop, but space is limited so it is recommended for those interested to register when registering for the entire TechCon conference.

Myers will also co-present a session on Traffic and Scheduling with TAC at an as yet undetermined time.

PBS TechCon is a gathering of public television professionals to share ideas through education, professional development and technology. It will take place from April 3-5 at the Flamingo Las Vegas.

NORTHAMPTON, MASS.—Broadcast management solutions provider Myers has announced Mike Tirrell as their new Chief Operating Officer (COO). Tirrell, who most recently served as Senior Director, Data Services for NBCUniversal Media, LLC, will drive the company’s corporate, strategic, and operational initiatives forward. His proven track record for Systems Integration and Data Transformation will play a vital role in advancing Myers’ next generation broadcast management solutions, the company said.

Tirrell replaces current COO, Nathan McCarthy, who will be departing the company at year end to explore a new opportunity.

“Nathan has done a tremendous job navigating our organization through a highly transformative period and we look forward to Mike building from his success,” said Crist Myers, President and CEO of Myers. “Mike’s extensive technical expertise, leadership, and business acumen not only compliments that of the Myers’ team, but will be paramount in executing our vision for the future and strengthening our position in the market.”

At NBCUniversal, Tirrell was responsible for building and modernizing the company’s existing Business Intelligence and Data Services platforms. Prior to working with NBCUniversal, he served as director of integrations at WideOrbit where he facilitated integrations between internal systems and over 70 media industry vendor products. 

LAS VEGAS—Here’s an extended preview of some of the products that will be on display from eight exhibitors:

Broadcast Pix

Take control anywhere with the BPswitch family of integrated production switchers. Broadcast Pix leads the industry with its control-over-IP capabilities. Produce your live programming from a traditional control room, or use a customizable browser-based interface on your mobile device.

With the BPNet IP ecosystem, powered through the ioGates cloud-based media management platform, BPswitch delivers secure, full-motion video and complete access to all your sources and workflow tools. And because it only requires a typical internet connection, BPswitch is a cost-effective solution for remote unmanned studios. Get up to 22 SDI inputs and 12 outputs, with eight channels for clips and graphics and four customizable BPview multi-view outputs.

Every BPswitch system includes NewBlueNTX 3D motion graphics with hundreds of title styles and templates, plus clip stores, device control, file-based macros, integrated streaming to Facebook Live and other CDNs, and more.

www.broadcastpix.com
Booth: SL8320

Comark

For over 45 years Comark has been a trusted partner of TV broadcasters. For NAB 2018, Comark is announcing the availability of the Parallax solid state liquid cooled DTV transmitter for VHF Band 1 (54-88MHz).

This new model is available to support RF power levels from 4.0 up to 41kW. The new Band 1 version of Parallax shares the common architecture (cabinet, distributed control system, user interface) with the UHF and VHF Band 3 models. It provides the highest reliability and efficiency, while keeping the cost of ownership low. Parallax is manufactured, serviced, and supported out of the company’s MA facility.

www.comarktv.com
Booth: C4309

Florical Systems

Florical introduces a new integrated playout solution called FéniX. The server features SDI and IP I/O options on the same box. Includes integrated MC switching, branding, and DVE effects. The FéniX is powered by Harmonic technology and Florical's enterprise automation suite creating the most comprehensive system on the market.

www.florical.com
Booth: N2524

Fluotec

Fluotec is an award-winning manufacturer of professional LED lighting for Television, Video, Photography and Digital & Film Cinema

For more than two decades the Fluotec vision has been to create precision luminaires that deliver pure white lighting. Fluotec’s sustainable and efficient LED technology has already saved millions of dollars in energy costs for hundreds of television studios around the world.

Fluotec presents “The CINELIGHT Studio Long Throw,” three Models of Constant Output Tunable LED Panels for use in high altitude studios.

These professional fixtures sport very High CRI & TLCI Indexes for accurate rendering of skin tones and stage colors and step-less Halodim 0-100 percent dimming for precise control in a studio lighting environment

Pure White Light = Energy & Cost Savings.

www.flutec.net
Booth: C161

IHSE USA

The Draco tera compact XV matrix for ultra-image 4K is offered in eight to 80 user-configurable I/O ports to support a full range of video formats up to 4096x2160@60Hz and 30bit 4:4:4 color depth. The matrix supports the full line of innovative draco ultra series KVM extenders using Fraunhofer’s Lici codec with low latency and perfect pixel-for-pixel performance. Using the 490 series DisplayPort extender units, users can either create a stretched desktop of 8192x2160 across two 4K displays or run in “clone” mode to show full 4K applications on two screens.

www.ihseusa.com - http://www.ihseusa.com/products/kvm-matrix-switch-compact-xv-fiber.html
Booth: SL10216

Myers

ProTrack empowers broadcast networks, affiliates and independent media companies to acquire, schedule, monetize and distribute content with greater efficiency than ever before. It consolidates all of the roles and responsibilities that go into linear and non-linear distribution, so media facilities can optimize their content and associated opportunities.

ProTrack is a proven solution that provides a single source for critical business data across multiple distributors, departments, technical systems and distribution channels. No matter how much disruption is occurring in the industry, our flexible, adaptable technology platform stays one step ahead—giving you the right data, at just the right time, from a single, centralized source.

ProTrack is built to keep pace with change, making it easier to scale up operations to cater to a growing customer base, cut costs, and monetize content.

For updates on all the Myers products coming to the NAB Show in April, please follow @MyersInVegas on Twitter.

www.myersinfosys.com
Booth: N3711

Primestream

At NAB 2018, Primestream will demonstrate new solutions to capture, edit and transcode live IP streams, a cloud-based review and approval system, robust 4K workflow, public APIs to easily integrate into the Xchange platform and a new centralized configuration management portal for quick and easy installations.

Primestream will also highlight VR/360 asset management, an updated Adobe Premiere Pro extension panel that features a new versioning system, as well as improvements to archival workflow with leading cloud and tape storage providers. The next generation Dynamic Media Management platform is built for ease-of-use with powerful features needed to manage the most complex sports, enterprise and broadcast workflow.

www.primestream.com/nab
Booth: SL12111

TSL Products

With over 1,000 global installations, TSL Product’s TallyMan Advanced Broadcast Control System provides broadcasters with reliable, user-oriented control and dynamic data display. TSL continues to enhance TallyMan’s capabilities with new features and protocols allowing operators to integrate a broad range of broadcast equipment into automated workflows. TallyMan now offers Ember+ protocol support, enabling engineers to intuitively integrate all Ember+ capable third-party devices.

TSL’s updated TallyMan Virtual Panel more effectively enhances operational workflow and flexibility for outside broadcast and transmission facilities with several new control features integrated into the panel’s customizable, drag-and-drop interface. New source selection architecture allows users to access presets at the touch of a button. Operators can also take advantage of improved sliders, rotary encoders and X-Y control to better steer robotic cameras, adjust gain on audio devices and tweak levels on color correctors.

www.tslproducts.com
Booth: N5615

SAN FRANCISCO—The business of business systems has changed dramatically over the past few years. Gone are the standalone systems that met one primary goal: managing the tricky business of traffic and billing. Today, the technology has evolved to tackle elements outside the traditional purview of traffic (crewing, anyone?) and must do so in ways that fit both small broadcasters and large multimedia organizations.

Today, solutions found on the market point to integrated systems that many say are far superior alternative to manually assembling a collection of discrete point products.

Sarah Foss, vice president, product management for Imagine Communications That all-in-one mindset also drove the development of Xytech’s MediaPulse, an enterprise-class solution for facility management that handles resource management, order management, asset management, transmission, crewing and financial tasks, and combines those tasks into one system.

The system is crafted with five to 10 different modules that offer clients a number of operational remedies, according to Greg Dolan, chief operating officer for the Mission Hills, Calif.-based company.

The system was written so that it could innovate as new technologies become available and would be able to tackle multiple disparate areas—crewing, transmission, etc.—at once. MediaPulse offers 35 modules that can be coordinated to handle traditional tasks faced by a media facility, such as scheduling, billing and employee management. New features include new order screens for managing intricate workflows, scheduled reports modules, cost tracking, and financial reporting and payroll.

“Standalone scheduling systems are dead,” Dolan said. “If these systems are not talking to one another, they’re losing their relevance.”

Xytech is one of several business management systems that it being put to the test on sport’s biggest stage this summer as NBC uses several different software systems to manage staff, transmission feeds and resources during its coverage of 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. For Xytech, this effort involved the technical coordination of 3,500 staff members, flights and reporting assignments. MediaPulse is the engine behind a series of systems NBC is using that includes asset management, automation and news scheduling.

Every client has something unique, Dolan said, whether it’s handling content and IP routing requirements for the U.S. Department of State, or managing the behind-the-scenes greenlighting process for Red Bull Media House.

“A customizable platform allows you to speak to a client’s requirements; these have to be glove-fits,” he said. “Islands of individual systems don’t exist anymore.”

This month Xytech launched a Broadcast Services Division to address the changing needs of global video transmission services.

THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS

The business of managing the business came to a head for SNJ Today as it attempted to do something fairly unique: provide news and programming on Internet radio, via its own local Comcast television station, as well through an AM/FM radio station and local newspaper.

A new user interface from Myers’ latest ProTrack broadcast management system extends the capabilities of the ProTrack hub and Spoke platform, which currently serves as the core infrastructure for multiple centralized content acquisition, playout and storage service providers.
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The New Jersey media company installed the Imagine Communication’s LandmarkOSI traffic and billing ad management system to streamline ad sales across all of those properties: TV, radio, web and print.

By installing an integrated ad management and playout solution from, SNJ Today has improved operations and optimized their business workflow, according to Sarah Foss, vice president, product management for Imagine. “LandmarkOSI provides them a single system to automate and manage ad sales and billing across all their media channels, which enhances their competitive edge and helps them drive new revenue and manage it more efficiently,” she said.

SNJ Today’s integrated system manages ad sales and program scheduling across four separate media channels via integration with Imagine’s Versio automation and playout system.

“We needed a solution that… would give us the quality and professionalism of a ‘big-city’ broadcast station but deliver the efficiencies and ease-of-use we require to be successful,’’ said Ken Pustizzi, president and owner of SNJ Today. The kicker was the ability of the LandmarkOSI to manage ad sales and billing across all of the company’s media channels, he said.

The goal was not only to automate sales, scheduling and playout operations across all media platforms, but also to manage the entire enterprise as a unified operation, Pustizzi said.

GETTING IT TOGETHER

Connectivity with other systems is also a key element of NetInsight’s ScheduALL solutions. The company’s ScheduALL Portal is designed to improve a customer’s ability to book services, resources and even occasional use transmission feeds online in real-time.

According to NetInsight, the Portal is designed to eliminate the traditional communication methods of emails, phone calls and spreadsheets from the booking process and instead allow for customers to book packaged services or individual resources through the system itself.

That connectivity is a cornerstone of ScheduALL Connector as well. This resource management system unites ScheduALL systems across a supply chain, giving users real-time access to a resource inventory. Features include the ability to buy and sell resources in real-time, set up direct system-to-system bookings, and offer a centralized view of availability for subscribed resources.

ScheduALL’s technology is being used by NBC to manage transmission feeds and resources during its coverage of 2016 Summer Games.

Myers is another company pushing beyond traditional workflows to do more than just scheduling and traffic. The Northampton, Mass.-based company has extended the capabilities of its ProTrack Hub and Spoke platform, which currently serves as the core infrastructure for multiple centralized content acquisition, playout and storage service providers.

ProTrack Hub and Spoke enables independent stations to retain their scheduling autonomy, while capitalizing on the efficiency attained as result of shared content repositories and master control resources, according to Crist Myers, Myers CEO.

“Integrations are providing enhanced interoperability and in-turn creating more automated workflows,” he said. For example, more in-depth integration between ProTrack and other vendor partners has enhanced interoperability and bidirectional communication between ProTrack and technical systems, enabling content to move freely across multiple systems within the enterprise based on actual usage/scheduling requirements. The resulting accessibility and visibility, Myers said, is designed to improve workflow efficiency.

Myers also plans to roll out a new ProTrack product release that will feature commercial sales capabilities.

Other solutions look closely at rising trends in digital and programmatic advertising sales. SintecMedia’s Advertising Sales solution connects systems, processes and teams in an effort to grow advertising sales across three areas: properties, media platforms and distribution channels, the company said.

Pieces of the puzzle within the Advertising Sales Solution include reporting and analytics; invoicing, credit and accounting; remote sales; proposal and deal management; and traffic and financial system integration.

Along that same line, the company’s OnBoard system is a single platform for TV, digital and programmatic that specifically allows users to coordinate salespeople, delivery teams and backend systems to create a single cross-platform fulfillment process. Through the system’s web-based buyer portal, customers can buy, manage their accounts and monitor campaign performance.

The company recently partnered with TubeMogul to integrate TubeMogul’s programmatic television solution with On-Board sales and traffic to enable end-to-end programmatic advertising.

“This integration will provide SintecMedia’s clients a better view of demand and ensure they are maximizing their inventory in a private marketplace that is 100 percent integrated with their sales and traffic systems,” said Amir Lavi, president of SintecMedia Americas.

The company also offers OTT nonlinear solutions to manage linear and nonlinear distribution. Features include centralizing a content library by capturing and managing programs, episodes, formats and media as well as manage physical media workflow from procurement through airing. The system can also streamline fulfillment operations.

What’s next? Almost all agree that it’s necessary that modern business management systems offer technology that fits our modern era: cloud connectivity, a mobile interface and connectivity through an app—even though BMS systems are traditionally complicated and visually intricate systems. “Even it it’s feature heavy, it has to fit in a mobile or browser,” Xytech’s Dolan said.

NORTHAMPTON, MASS.–With a new HD channel expected to launch later this year, Montgomery College Television has employed Myers’ ProTrack broadcast management software to manage the educational cable network’s multiple channels. Montgomery College Television highlights the best of Montgomery College and its surrounding community and produces its own content.

“Running a station independently consumes a lot of resources in producing, airing, and properly archiving content,” shared Melissa Pace, Station Manager, Montgomery College.

Increasing efficiency in its broadcast workflow was of upmost importance when choosing management software, according to the college. ProTrack has allowed MCTV to continue to use itsr Harmonic Polaris Play Automation System, with schedule timing between the systems now simpler due to the integration of the Broadcast Exchange Format (BXF) and media timing updates that provide specific program lengths needed for log creation. MCTV’s community broadcaster status requires them to produce and file reports such as media listings and performances reporting, and with ProTrack, staff can now automate those tasks.

The ProTrack system also includes Myers’ ProWeb web plugin that configures MCTV’s website to automatically update its program schedule as it appears on the station’s ProTrack schedule, allowing viewers to have 24/7 program information.

Pace says the ProTrack system has allowed them to “more effectively deliver valuable content their viewers have come to rely on.”

WEYBRIDGE, ENGLAND & BROOMFIELD, COLO.—Pebble Beach Systems and Myers recently deployed a Broadcast Exchange Format (BXF) based integrated system to their shared customer base. One of the customers was KCET, a public television stations serving Central and Southern California.

Gordon Bell

BXF is a SMPTE standard for data exchange that enables Pebble Beach and Myers clients to benefit from automated workflows between traffic and automation, according to the companies’ press release. Specifically, this allowed KCET to add Pebble’s Marina system to create a two-way communication with its previously installed Myers’ ProTrack for data exchange. KCET's Vice President of Engineering, Gordon Bell, said the station implemented BXF during construction of a new facility.

The BXF protocol provides a universal integration environment for the two systems to connect, with the web-based integration enabling a bidirectional exchange of data and an expansion of the total volume of metadata ProTrack and Marina can share. The integration also provides automated notifications and feedback between the two systems; search messaging capabilities between the two systems; real-time, as-run reporting; and heartbeat messages to verify system connectivity.

Interfaces now available to KCET as part of the BXF integration include Play-List, Live As-Run Media Update, Record-List, Ingest/Dub Order, Purge-Confirm, and Purge-List.

NORTHAMPTON, MASS.—Myers is heading to church, or at least its ProTrack Broadcast Management System is. The company announced that the Gospel Broadcast Network has implemented the ProTrack system to provide control over the network’s produced and acquired program content. The ProTrack system will also allow GBN to connect more with its audience.

GBN is replacing its in-house system with ProTrack, creating a centralized system for metadata that allows for managing and scheduling of content. The network will also use ProTrack’s ProWeb module to produce and deliver interactive program schedules to GBN’s website for viewers to stay up-to-date.

ProTrack fully integrates with GBN’s existing Florical Automation System and provides a playlist schedule of primary and secondary events for playout. The Florical system then returns an as-run log ProTrack for schedule reconciliation. Additional features include automating tasks and populate program schedules and breaks.

GBN is a 24-hour American Christian satellite broadcast network based in Olive Branch, Miss.

Myers is broadcast management software developer based in Northampton, Mass.